


Temporary Bliss

by Theladyofravenclaw



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Shipping trash, hickey, i dont know, i tried guys, temporary bliss by the cab, this is my sin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-03-24
Packaged: 2018-05-20 06:56:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5995896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theladyofravenclaw/pseuds/Theladyofravenclaw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chat Noir and Marinette have been seeing each other at night for a long time now, but when Chat feels like the relationship is too one-sided he wants some answers. What are Marinette's true feelings toward him? How does he feel about these nights together? And how long does Marinette have to figure things out for herself?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introduction

He’s addicted to her.

Every night for the past few months he’s come back to this familiar terrace only to fall back in her arms. It’s a quarter past two when he finds himself sitting back on that rooftop, and like clockwork she climbs up her ladder and allows him to crawl down into her room.

They're a flurry of hands and messy kisses as he pulls her closer to his body and she intertwines her fingers in his hair. Her lips are latched onto his and with every move he makes her kisses grow more frantic and desperate. He moves away from her mouth and begins to trail down her jawline and into the crook of her neck. He hears her intake of breath as he moves his mouth further down to her collarbone and pulls her closer to him. Her legs wrap around his waist and he pins her against the wall while she begins to nibble on his ear impatiently.

“Chat.” She moans, her hot breath dancing across his cheek.

He doesn’t quite remember the day he became like this for the sweet shy girl that sits behind him in class. One day he found himself on the rooftop of her home after a long day and she had found him standing by her railing. Words of comfort grew into something more for him, and the more he got to know Marinette the more he began to understand her and want to be closer to her as a person.

She told him about her unrequited love at school, and while he didn’t know their name he was still able to give her comfort and encourage her when she was feeling down like she did for his unattainable love. It was nice being like that for a while, until one day he found himself perched on top of her instead and kissing her like a madman.

They both knew it was wrong, but some days it feels unavoidable. He knows he’ll never get Ladybug to look at him the way he wants her too, and a part of her seems to have given up on her crush at school as well, but in their heartbreak they found a different bond. He gave her the comfort she needed on the days he could see her in pain, and she always welcomed him back into her bed for the nights when he needed her.

And her hands were so addicting. Everything about Marinette screamed comfort and bliss, even if it was only for the night. It may not have started out like this, but he needs her everyday and every night because she fills up a part of himself that he didn’t know felt empty until she filled it with her lovely voice, her sweet embrace, and her tempting lips. He can’t help it anymore, she feels like a drug that he’s become addicted to at the very mention of her name. It takes every ounce of self control he has not grab her like this at school when she walks in the classroom or passes him in the hallway. Even Nino can tell that there’s something different about him, and while he’s still hurt and longing for his partner every time he see’s her he knows she could never replace the spot that Marinette has in his heart, not even if she wanted to.

But it can only last so long, because they’ll spend the night together completely lost in the other only to have him go to school the next day and not even have her glance at him. It tears him apart, because he knows her better than her best friend Alya probably knows her at this point but it’s not him that got to know her it’s Chat. Never has he ever felt so jealous of his alter ego than he has when she runs away from the very sight of him in class but barely gives him time to breathe when he see’s her at night with the mask on.

He wants her, every part of her, but he knows he can’t have it because she’ll only allow him to go so far before she finally tells him it’s time to go and he is forced to remember the whole reason he’s even there. She doesn’t think of him on nights like this, she imagines how much better it would be if it was her crush holding her like this and making her lose her senses like he does. It drives him nuts to watch her become out of breath every night only to see the faint whisper of another boy's name on her lips that she refrains from screaming. He wants those eyes to only look at him when he does these things, he wants her thoughts to only be filled with him, but he knows they won’t and it hurts but not enough to make him stop coming back.

But he needs something, something from this foolish relationship to keep him going or else he feels he will lose himself from desire and heartache caused by both his lady and his princess. They’ve both fallen on the bed, her presence pinning him onto her mattress as she straddles his hips and digs her nails into the black leather of his suit. Her hands move up and down his chest as he searches for her face in the darkness of her room.

“Marinette.” He tells her. “We should stop, before this goes too far.”

“What if I don’t want it to stop?” She asks him looking up. “What if this is what I want this time?”

“But it’s not, at least not with me.” He tells her pushing her hands away and sitting up.

“Oh really? Then tell me my silly kitty what is it I really want?” She asks him turning her head to face him.

Chat hesitates, slightly terrified of what her answer will  be when he finally asks the question. “It’s not me you want to be with tonight is it?” He asks her. “It’s that boy in your school you like, he’s the one you want with you like this.”

There’s a long pause from her causing them to sit in complete and utter silence as she processes his words.

“What about you then?” She asks him, finally cutting through the silence. “Can you honestly tell me that when you sneak into my room and hold me like this you don’t imagine I was someone else? I know you can see in the dark with that mask on, but do you ever close your eyes and imagine it was her underneath you and not me?”

“That’s not-”

“Don’t lie to me.” She interrupts him. “I don’t think I can hear it, not from you.”

He sees her reposition herself and move farther away from him as she turns her head and looks down. He can’t end the night like this, he wants to show her what his true feelings are towards her, he needs to find a way to prove that these nights aren’t just something he does to pass the time but instead are moments that replay in his head everyday and keep him coming back. He inches towards her again and moves her face towards his.

“Then listen to this.” He says before moving his head down back into the crook of her neck and biting into it. He hears her gasp as he sinks his teeth in and begins sucking on it, creating a small red spot that blossoms perfectly on her pale, soft neck.

“Chat, what are you-”

“When that mark fades, that’s when I’ll come back here.” He tells her looking up. “And when I come back, that’s when I want an answer.”

“What answer are you talking about?” She asks him, moving her hand up to the small hickey he made.

“Am I only here to help you get your mind off of him or is there something more?” He asks her. “Because I don’t think I can keep doing this if there isn’t.”

She looks up at him, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape as she moves closer to him.

“And how will you know when the mark fades?” She asks him.

“I’m closer than you think.” He tells her before giving her a quick kiss on the forehead and climbing out of her room and onto the rooftop. He starts jumping from house to house until he finally gets home and lays down on his bed, wondering how in the world things got this complicated.

The next day he sees Marinette walk into class with a scarf covering her neck and he can’t help but feel a slight sense of satisfaction.


	2. Day One

_ Day one. _

Marinette walks into class the next day with her head still spinning over the night’s events as she messes with the scarf she has tied securely around her neck. She doesn’t  know what to do as his words keep replaying in her head over and over along with the little red mark he made on her neck that keeps itching in order to gain her attention. Looking up she sees Alya waiting for her at their desk and rushes over to her friend’s side.

“Morning Mari, what’s up with the scarf?” She asks her pointing towards the garment covering her neck that she picked up this morning. “I didn’t think it was supposed to be cold out today.”

“Oh, w-well you know i-it’s kind of chilly outside for me and I thought it looked good with my outfit so I just kind of picked it up.” Marinette tries to tell her, avoiding eye contact to try and keep her from figuring out her obvious lie. 

“Okay, I guess the weather feels different for different people.” Alya nods still looking at her. “But are you sure you’re alright? You look a little pale today are you catching a fever?”

“Me? No, of course not!” Marinette tells her. “I’m as fit as a fiddle, no problems here, just up and ready for some learning today!”

“Uh-huh.” Alya nods raising one eyebrow at her. “Well if there’s anything you want to tell me you know you can right? Nothing weird going on?”

“Nope, by the way did you finish the homework last night? I got tired doing some stuff.” She says, trying to get Alya off the topic and have her focus on something else.

If Marinette’s head wasn’t spinning in every direction as it was this morning she probably would’ve noticed the slight laughter that came from Adrien sitting in front of her at the mention of “stuff” which he quickly covered up by saying he saw something funny on his phone. Alya shook her head and pulled out the worksheet they were given to work on over the night for Marinette to copy. Breathing out a sigh of relief Marinette looked down at her friends work and told herself to stay calm and just focus on school for now.

Classes went by in the blink of an eye as they sat there listening to their teachers ramble on about their various subjects and Marinette became more diligent than ever as she copied their every word trying her best to keep herself distracted and productive. As she did this she could hardly see the concerned face her friend Alya was giving her or that the two boys that always sit in front of them kept glancing back at her. Before she knew it the bell rang letting everyone out for lunch.

“Alright come with me.” Alya said as she grabbed Marinette by the wrist and dragged her to a secluded area. 

“Alya what are you-”

“Okay, you’re going to tell me what’s going on right now.” She interrupts her. “And don’t try to play it off like I don’t know you’ve been acting weird all day.”

Marinette looks up at her best friend and lets out a sigh. “Alright, how did you know?” She asks her.

“I’m you’re best friend, of course I would know something is wrong.” Alya smiles. “Now what’s got you acting like such a dedicated student all of a sudden?”

“Okay, before I tell you, you have to promise me one thing.” Marinette says while glancing around them to make sure no one is listening.

“Alright, what is it?” Alya asks looking at her.

“Don’t freak out.”.

“About what?” She asks, raising one eyebrow at her. 

Without saying anything Marinette reaches up for the scarf hanging around her neck and slowly pulls it off to reveal the small hickey hidden from view. She hears Alya gasp at the sight of it and she looks down with her face completely flushed.

“Marinette.” Alya states. “Where in the world did you get that?”

“That’s the complicated part.” She sighs. “So let’s say that there’s this guy I know right?”

“You’ve been going out with a guy without telling me!” Alya exclaims.

“It’s not like that!” Marinette tells her. “At least, I don’t think it is.”

“What do you mean by that?” Alya asks her. “Don’t tell me you’ve been playing around with some random guy I don’t know about!”

Marinette looks down from her friends shocked face and slowly nods her head up and down creating and exasperated sigh from Alya.

“Marinette, what have you done?” She asks her. “Alright, so does this mean that your thing for Adrien is over?”

“No- I mean yes- I mean, I don’t know.” Marinette sighs. “Everything just got so complicated, we were just friends for a while and then something happened and we ended up meeting up every night and doing  _ things _ and then last night we were talking and he wanted to know how I felt-”

“What did you say?” Alya asks her interrupting her rant.

“That’s the thing, I kinda got mad at him and threw it back in his face.” She tells her looking down. “Then he gave me this and told me that he was going to see me again but only after it faded and he expects an answer and I am freaking out Alya. What do I do?”

“Alright, you said you have until that thing fades before he sees you again?” Alya asks her, waiting for Marinette to nod before continuing. “Then first thing we need to know is how many days you have to figure this out.”

Marinette watches as her friend pulls out her phone and pulls up google. Looking over the screen she can see Alya pull up a search on how long it takes for hickeys to fade to see in bold letters the words “five to twelve days” pop up.

“Twelve days!” Marinette exclaims. “That’s more than a week! That is way too much time, what if I figure things out but when he finally sees me again I’ve changed my mind?”

“Alright calm down girl.” Alya tells her. “First things first, it says that it would only last up to twelve days if it was big. From what I can see, lover boy only left you a playful bite. It should fade in about five days at most.”

“So, five days?” She asks her looking up.

“Five days, that’s all you got in order to figure things out.” Alya tells her. “So let’s figure this out, tell me about him.”

“What?” Marinette asks her.

“How am I supposed to help you out as your best friend in your time of need if I can’t even make an assessment of the guy?” She asks her. “Now spill, what kind of guy has marked up my best friend?”

A smile spreads across Marinettes’ face as she nods at Alya before settling themselves down and telling her story.

 


	3. Day Two

_ Day two. _

“Alright Alya, I understand the plan.” Marinette reassures her friend as she finishes getting her bag ready for school.

“You better not flake out on me girl.” Alya’s voice rings out through her phone’s speakers. “Remember we only have so long until that little bite of yours goes away, we need to make good use of our time.”

“I know, I know.” Marinette sighs. “I’ll meet you at school alright, I can do this.”

“Alright, see you there.” A click is made on the other side and Marinette lets out a long sigh as she puts down the phone.

“Finally!” She exclaims. “I thought we would never stop talking.”

“I don’t see why you two are going through all this trouble.” Tikki says peeking her head out of Marinette’s purse and looking up at her. “Why can’t you just tell Chat how you feel about him?”

“Because until I figure things out with Adrien I can’t.” Marinette tells her. “I can't confront my feelings for one guy while I still have some for another, that just wouldn’t be fair. Alya’s right, I need to face this head on.”

Even if that meant doing the most terrifying thing she could do.

Talking to him.

Making her way over to the school Marinette reflects on what her and Alya talked about the other day.

_ “From what you just told me it seems like you really do have feelings for him.” Alya says while nodding her head. “If you ask me, you should confront your feelings for this other guy instead of hiding away from them.” _

_ “Yeah but what about Adrien?” Marinette asks her. “It wouldn’t be fair to tell him how I feel while still conflicted about another guy.” _

_ “Alright then, I have a solution.” Alya states. “You are going to face Adrien yourself and tell him how you feel.” _

_ “What!?” Marinette exclaims. “I can’t do that! How am I going to confront him if I can’t even hold a conversation with him? It’s impossible!” _

_ “What’s impossible is your attitude.” Alya states. “Now listen here, you’re never going to allow yourself to figure things out without getting some kind of confrontation from Adrien. That is why you need to tell him, once you’ve resolved things with him then I have no doubt you can resolve things with mystery dude.” _

_ “Well how am I going to do find the opportunity to tell him?” She asks her. _

_ “Just leave that to me.” Alya says right as the bell rings and they gather their stuff to head back into the building. _

“I just have to talk to him, I just have to talk to him.” Marinette whispers to herself while gathering the courage to walk forward. He wasn’t even anywhere near her right now but the simple thought of confronting Adrien was in itself so terrifying she could already feel the urge to run away. She feels her grip on her bag tighten as she approaches the school gates and walks up to greet Alya.

“You ready?” She asks her.

“No.” Marinette sighs while shaking her head. “But I know I have to do this.”

“That’s my girl!” Alya exclaims. “Now come on we have a boy to meet!”

Without another word they walk into the school and make their way over to their seats.

“So how exactly do you plan to get me and Adrien alone together?” Marinette asks leaning over towards Alya.

“Just watch.” She says as both Nino and Adrien walk through the door. “Hey boys, what's up?”

“Hey Alya, how's it going?” Nino calls back waving towards them.

“Oh you know the usual.” She tells him. “You know, I'm trying to think up some new theories for my Ladyblog but I'm running dry on ideas, it's a bummer. How about at lunch we get together and brainstorm.”

“Sure, I don’t have any plans for today. How about you Adrien?” Nino asks him turning around to face his best friend.

Adrien looks up at the two girls and smiles.

“Sure sounds great.” He says. “It’s been getting a little boring being just the two of us.”

“Awesome, I really appreciate it guys.” Alya smiles turning her head slightly and winking at Marinette. “And I’m sure that’s not a problem for you right Marinette?”

“O-oh, me? No of c-course n-not!” She manages to stutter out looking back at the two boys.

“Then it’s settled!” Alya exclaims right before the teacher comes in and tells them all to stop talking.

Marinette glances over at her friend and tears out a piece of paper to write her a note.

_ What was that! You know I can’t deal with this kind of stuff! _

It only takes her friend a minute before she sees the paper slide back in front of her with a new message scribbled underneath.

_ Don’t worry about it, it’ll be easier for you to talk to him when there’s other people around you. This way we can get rid of that horrible stutter of yours and get you talking like a normal person. Once you are capable of functioning like a proper human being around him that’s when you admit how you feel. _

Reading over the note Marinette lets out a sigh and writes another message underneath it which she slides over again.

_ Alright, I guess that makes sense. But why does it have to be at lunch today? I like to sit down and be comfortable when I eat not question every action I make and become an utter mess. _

Alya reads the note and shakes her head.

_ Girl, you’re already a mess! This is so you can’t back down, remember you only have so many days left before that mark disappears so it’s now or never! _

“Alya!” Their teacher calls out from the front. “Can you repeat what I just said right now?”

Both Marinette and Alya’s heads snap up at their teachers outburst before quickly stashing the note out of sight.

“Sorry ma’am, I wasn’t paying attention.” She tells the teacher with a nervous smile.

“Yes, that much is evident.” The teacher says while shaking her head. “Next time do pay more attention to the lecture I’m giving you than whatever it was you and miss Dupain-Cheng were doing right now.”

“Yes ma’am, I’m sorry.” Alya apologizes waiting for the teacher to turn around before letting out a long sigh.

They spent the rest of the class silent as Marinette tried her best to focus on the lecture to no avail as the boy sitting in front of her kept stealing her attention. Twisting in her seat she watched as the seconds rolled by bringing her closer to their lunch period and her inevitable doom. 

The lunch bell rang and released the students to their break, making Marinette jump in her seat at the sound.

“Come on girl, you can do this.” Alya whispers to her as they make their way to the boys table.

“Alright.” She says taking a deep breath. “Let's go.”

Squaring her shoulders and keeping her head high Marinette walks alongside Alya as they make their way to Adrien and Nino.

“Hey Alya!” Nino calls out. “I was wondering when you were going to show up.”

“You know I'd never keep you waiting.” Alya winks before settling herself down and pulling out her lunch. “Alright, tell me what you guys think about this.”

Different theories started flying around the table, from whether Ladybug is a high school student to what her  _ real _ relationship with Chat Noir is. Alya seemed to be off in her own world leaving Marinette to sit there and listen as she tried to find a point in the conversation to jump in. Every once in awhile she would look across the table to where Adrien was sitting to see him looking straight at her before he'd turn his head and look down soon after causing a dash of red to dance across her cheeks. 

_ Get it together Marinette!  _ She told herself focusing on the task on hand. 

“Sorry to interrupt but how far into that Hamlet essay have you guys gotten?” She asks, steering them into a subject she was more comfortable talking about.

“Ugh, I haven't even started.” Nino groans while rolling his eyes. 

“You do know it's due by Friday right?” Adrien laughs. “Have you even chosen a prompt yet?”

“I was just gonna go the easy route and write about the first one.” He tells him. “Since it's about revelations and the whole play is just one huge revelation. What about you? I bet it's already done by now.”

“Surprisingly no.” Adrien says. “I've been busy lately with all the photoshoots my dad scheduled for his new collection. Not to mention I've got a few things on my mind too.”

“Sounds tough.” Alya says. “You need a break, why don't we go catch a movie today or something.”

“I can't, I got completely booked.” He sighs. “Plus I don't want to end up like Nino over here so I should get to work on the essay.”

“What prompt did you pick?” Marinette asks, taking her chance to jump into the conversation.

“The second one about minor characters that play a huge role in the story.” He says turning towards her. “I wanted to write about how the ghost only appears once but ends up being one of the most important characters. I had it all planned out too but I'm running out of time fast to get it done.”

“I chose the same prompt actually.” Marinette tells him nodding her head. “Instead I wrote about Fortinbras and how even though he only showed up at the end of the play he still held an important role to the story.”

“That sounds interesting.” Adrien says, a smile forming on his lips. “How much of it have you gotten done?”

“Oh, I finished it last week.” She tells him.

“Hey, I have an idea.” Alya states. “Why don't we all get together after school and work together to get it done.”

“But I'm already finished with my work Alya.” Marinette cuts in.

“Yeah, and I have a photoshoot today after school.” Adrien says giving a sad smile.

“Then let's do it tomorrow.” She says with a large grin on her face. “Mari can help us by looking over the papers and we can get some good feedback on our work.”

“That sounds great actually.” Nino exclaims. “I can use all the help I can get for this class. Come on dude, you're free tomorrow right?”

“Well…” Adrien states rubbing the back of his head. “I think I am, I'll have to ask my dad but maybe we can do it at my house.”

“That’d be great!” Alya says. “What about you Mari? Think you can come?”

“Um…” Marinette hesitates as she looks over at Alya whose expression tells her she really doesn't have a choice in the matter. “Yeah, that should be fine.”

“Sounds awesome!” Nino exclaims raising his fist in the air with a large smile on his face. “This is gonna be a big help guys thanks.”

The bell began to ring and the group gather their things and start heading back to class.

“Hey girl, I left my textbook back at the table I'm gonna go grab it real quick.” Alya tells her. “I'll meet you in class alright.” She says before turning around and bolting back to her textbook.

“Hey Marinette, wanna walk to class together?” A male voice says from behind her.

She turns around to see Adrien looking towards her while leaning against the lockers. She feels her cheeks start to heat up and her mouth go dry but nonetheless nods at him.

“S-sure, I don't mind.” She says looking back at the handsome blonde male leaning closer to her face.

“Great, then let's go.” He says before grabbing her hand and leading her with him to their physics class.

At first it's silent, none of them have the slightest clue what to say leaving Marinette very worried until he asked her another question.

“So, why’d you choose Fortinbras?” He asks her breaking through the silence. “I mean, I never would've thought too much about his character to be quite honest.”

“Well,” Marinette says after taking a deep breath. “I was just thinking about how no one really paid much attention to him until it was too late, and because of that and the chaos Hamlet created he was able to succeed in his efforts. I feel like I can relate to that kind of focus as well.”

“Being ignored?” He asked her.

“No that's not it.” She laughs while shaking her head. “More like, people being too blind to see who is really there.”

 


	4. Day Three

_Day three._

Marinette’s finger hovers over the doorbell as she looks up at the large mansion standing before her. She looks around her to see if Alya or Nino had arrived yet only to be disappointed by the lack of their presence.

She really doesn't have anyone to blame but herself, she was so anxious about going over today that she only grabbed a snack from her house and her bag and left. Now that she was early though she really doesn't have a choice but to go at this alone for a while.

She looks at her phone screen while debating whether or not to just wait around the house for Alya and Nino to show up before letting out a sigh and putting it away.

“Come on Marinette.” She tells herself. “You can handle being alone with him for a few minutes.”

Squaring her shoulders and lifting her chin she pushes the doorbell outside his gate and waits.

“Hello.” A lady's monotone voice rings out through the intercom. “How may I help you?”

“Oh, uh, hi.” Marinette says. “I-I’m a classmate- er- or friend of Adrien’s and I'm here for a project.”

“May I ask your name?” The lady asks her.

“Marinette.” She tells her. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

There's a slight pause between the two of them as she stands there. Suddenly the lady on the other side begins to laugh.

“Oh yes, how could I forget.” She tells her. “You're that girl I've been hearing about all-”

“Nathalie! I got this just let her in please!” Marinette hears Adrien’s voice interrupt.

The intercom turns off and she stands back as the gates open up for her to walk through. Wondering what it was Adrien didn't want her to hear Marinette walks up to his front door and knocks on it before standing back.

“Hey, sorry about that.” Adrien says as he opens the door. “That was Nathalie she tends to say a lot of things now and then. Um, did you bring the work?”

“Oh yeah, of course I did.” Marinette tells him with a small smile. “Do you mind if I come in?”

Adrien’s eyes widen when he sees he was blocking the doorway and forcing her to stand outside. With a slight jump he quickly moved out of the way and let her in.

“Oh, yeah, sorry about that.” He apologizes as she walks through the door.

There are many words that can describe how Adrien Agreste is feeling right now but calm is not one of them. As he watches her enter his home with wide and panicked eyes he glances down at his phone to see if Nino was on his way yet only to be greeted with an empty lock screen.

“Hey, do you know if Nino is here yet?” She asks while looking up at him.

“U-um, well, I haven’t gotten a hold of him y-yet.” He tries to tell her, reminding himself to remain as calm as possible around her.

“Hm, that’s weird.” She says while raising one eyebrow. “I can’t get a hold of Alya either. Do you think that maybe they got caught up in something.”

“Probably, you know Nino, always doing,” He started before looking back at her and losing track of his words. “...things.”

“Uh-huh.” She says looking up at him. “Are you alright? You seem a little on edge today.”

“What? No! I mean, I’m-I’m fine.” He tells her before taking a deep breath. “I’m great, so, uh, you wanna get started on that essay.”

“Sure.” She smiles. “Where were you planning on working on it?”

“My room.” He blurts out before a dark shade of red blossoms over his face turning him into an embarrassed mess. “I-I mean if that’s o-okay.”

He looked down at her to see her face as red as his, if not more, while she tries to respond.

“N-no that’s f-fine by me!” She tells him trying to calm down the heat in her face. “Lead the way.”

When Adrien left that mark on Marinette he thought he would be given some time to think about how he was going to approach the situation by himself, but as luck would have it he ended up spending more time with her as a civilian afterwards. He’s been trying to act as calm and collected at school with her around, even did his best to start up a conversation in the hallways, but it was so hard for him not to pull her into his arms and kiss her senseless every time he she was near. Having her in his house was a dangerous idea, when Alya proposed such a thing at lunch the other day he wasn’t really thinking about what could happen but now that she was here he can imagine every possibility in vivid detail. His eyes are trained to look straight forward as he leads her to his room and he tries his best to keep his heartrate down.

Meanwhile, Marinette takes a deep breath and tries to keep her mind focused on the task ahead. She looks down at the text Alya had just sent her and takes a deep breath.

_I’m keeping Nino busy so you guys can have some time alone, just go for it girl you can do this!_ The message read. Nodding her head Marinette looks straight and follows Adrien to his room, her eyes filled with determination to complete her mission.

She is going to confess to him. It has to be today.

Adrien opens the door and leads her into his bedroom which she gasps at the very sight of. His room is two stories tall with all sorts of arcade games, fencing trophies, and a flat screen TV facing a large white couch. She looks around at the place with wide eyes at how much stuff he seems to have holed up in there.

“Wow.” She says. “You sure know how to impress a person.”

“Yeah, it’s a bit much.” He tells her. “We don’t have to work here if you don’t want to, I know this stuff can seem too flashy and all-”

“No, no it’s fine.” She reassures him. “Don’t worry about it, I’m fine with working here it’s not a problem.”

Silence rang between the two teenagers as they settled themselves down on the couch and pulled out their school work. Adrien’s eyes wander over to the spot where Marinette was sitting and he watches her search for her paper. He looks down at his phone to see where in the world Nino and Alya only to see they still haven't contacted him yet.

“So, do you think we should wait for the others to show up or do you want to get started?” She asks him.

“I guess we should start working without them.” He tells her. “I haven't heard anything from Nino yet so he most likely got distracted.”

“I'm sure they'll show up soon.” She says with a small smile. “Until then, let's see how far you’ve gotten in this essay.”

He smiles at her and nods his head.

“Yeah, I'm sure you're right.” He says. “So this is what I've got written so far, it's only two paragraphs and I haven't even really gotten to the main point yet.”

“Well let me take a look at it.” She says before leaning over to grab the paper and brushing his hand.

He can feel the heat returning to his face from the contact and he becomes very aware of how close they are. He debates whether or not he should scoot away before deciding against it.

_Just act cool Adrien, don't freak out._ He tells himself.

“I like what you've got so far but there are a few things you can tweak here and there.” She tells him.

“Oh, like what?” He asks her while leaning in to look over her shoulder.

It was Marinette’s turn to blush as she could feel his breath on her neck while he tried to get a glance at the paper.

“W-well, for starters I wouldn't have the thesis statement be so broad.” She stutters. “If you're going to make a point of something you should be very direct with your words.”

“Huh, I guess I did leave it too open for interpretation.” He says. “Anything else?”

“I think the transitions should also flow a little better I guess.” She says while taking a deep breath. “Other than that it sounds fine, you just need to finish it.”

“That's the thing, I'm usually terrible at my conclusions.” He sighs. “Most the time they don't feel like I really did anything to prove my argument.”

“Then I guess the best way to fix that would be to find a way to restate the thesis.” She says before turning her head to face his.

He turns his head as well and as they make eye contact they both notice how close they are to the others face. He can feel her soft breath dancing across his lips and he doesn't know if it's the fact he misses her touch or if he's grown used to this position but he leans in a little closer.

She looks up into his green eyes and begins to lean in with him letting his presence pull her into a hauntingly familiar situation. The whole thing feels so natural, so right, so familiar that right as she gets close enough to kiss his lips an old face flashes in her head.

_Chat._

She stops herself and begins to pull back, feeling a pang in her heart and lifting her hand up to her neck.

He opens his eyes to see her pull back. Before he can say anything his phone’s ringtone goes off interrupting him.

“That's probably Nino, I'll be right back.” He says before standing up and exiting the room.

Marinette’s heart is beating a mile a minute as she takes a moment to take in what had just happened.

She had almost kissed Adrien Agreste.

_She_ had almost kissed _Adrien Agreste_!

And yet she pulled back. Thousands of questions start running through her mind about why in the world she would pull back but every answer she found could only relate back to one person.

Chat.

It felt wrong to kiss him the same way she's been kissing Chat, to do the things she's been doing with another boy. There was guilt in her heart from even thinking about it, even if it was Adrien.

_But why should I feel guilty?_  She asks herself. _It's not like me and Chat are dating._

“Oh, what am I doing?” She sighs.

“You alright?” Adrien asks her coming back in the room.

“Huh, oh yeah, I'm fine.” She tells him. “What did Nino have to say?”

“Oh, they're on their way right now. Apparently Alya got him to help her with some chores that took a while.” He says. “Something on your mind though? You seem pretty stressed out lately.”

“Oh, yeah, I wouldn't worry about it.” She tells him, her hand instinctively rising to touch the scarf on her neck. “I just got into a fight with a friend lately and it's been on my mind.”

“What happened?” He asks her.

Marinette sighs. “Well, at first we were just messing around.” She explains. “Everything was fine until I opened my big mouth. I said some things I really regret and, well, he said he needed some space. I just feel like I've made a real mess of things this time.”

Adrien looks down at her with a small smile on his face and puts his hand on her shoulder.

“Don't worry Marinette, I'm sure things will be fine.” He reassures her. “Besides, I don't think anyone could be mad at you for very long.”

“Maybe you're right.” She smiles. “I just really miss him right now I guess. I don't want to lose someone so important to me over such a silly argument.”

Adrien could feel his heart soar at her words as he looked down at her solemn expression. Not putting much thought into his actions he pulls her into his arms and hugs her close to his chest.

“Like I said, who could be mad at you?” He asks before looking down at her flushed face.

“Adrien, I-”

A knock at the door interrupts them causing the two to separate.

“Adrien, your other two friends are here.” Nathalie tells him. “Should I send them up?”

“Oh, uh yeah Nathalie that'll be great.” He says before turning back to Marinette. “We should probably go get them.”

“Actually, it's pretty late I should get home.” She tells him keeping her eyes lowered.

She gathers up her stuff and lets him lead her back to the front door while trying to hide red on her face.

“Oh hey guys.” Nino says as they meet him in the foyer. “You wouldn't believe what Alya and I just did-”

“Sorry Nino but you'll have to tell me tomorrow I have to head home.” Marinette interrupts him.

“You're leaving already?” Alya asks her. “But it's not even that late yet.”

“Well my parents got a rather large order to finish by tomorrow so they need some extra hands.” Marinette says. “I'm sorry I can't stay.”

Alya sighs. “Well, it can't be helped. Tell your parents I said hi.”

“Don't worry Mari, we've got this.” Nino tells her.

She gives them a small smile and starts to head out the door.

“Wait, Marinette.” Adrien calls out. “I, uh, hope it goes well with that friend of yours.”

“Thanks Adrien.” She smiles. “I hope it does too.”

With that said she turns around and begins her walk back home. It wasn't a complete lie when she said her parents had a large order that required her help, but that wasn't the reason she needed to leave. The entire time she was alone with Adrien she couldn't get Chat out of her head. She doesn't know why Chat seems to invade her mind like this so much but it's like she can't find a way to stop thinking about him. Her heart aches at the thought of how long it's been since she's seen him and she feels a rush of excitement at the thought of his return.

She ends up helping her parents with the order when she gets home before finishing up her homework and taking a quick shower before bed. It's past midnight when her head finally hits her pillow and she lets herself drift off to sleep.

Not a moment later she hears a knocking at the trapdoor above her. Bolting straight up she reaches out to open the door and peek her head outside to see if a certain alley cat had returned.

Looking around she could see Chat was nowhere to be found. Instead, she was met with the face of a plush cat toy with a black paper mask taped on it and a note.

_Thought you looked a little lonely without you favorite kitty around. Here's another cat to keep you warm at night when I can't. ;)_

She reads over the note again and smiles at the silly face he drew on it. Reaching out she grabs the toy and pulls it into her bedroom holding it tight. As she closes her eyes her arms tighten around the cat doll and she can feel a few tear drops begin to form in her eyes.

“I miss you.” She says before drifting off into sleep


	5. Day Four

_Day four._

The steady drum of her alarm clock forces Marinette to open her eyes and notice the world around her. Sun rays peek through her windows and she looks down to see the plush cat still in her arms with its mask coming off.

_Chat._

She lets out a long sigh and sits up, still holding the doll close to her.

“Marinette, are you alright?” Tikki yawns looking up at her.

“I don't know Tikki.” She says. “I've been obsessed with Adrien for so long that I never really thought about anyone else, and now that I am it just feels so complicated.”

“Marinette, it's not a bad thing to like Chat.” Tikki tells her. “You two have been through alot together, isn’t it normal that you two would develop these kind of feelings?”

“Probably but I'm not sure which version of me he really likes.” Marinette explains. “When I'm with him as Ladybug I'm so confident and sure of myself, but when I'm Marinette I feel so calm and natural. I had no idea that something like this was even going to happen, I probably should've never let him through my trapdoor.”

“Do you really think you wouldn't feel this way if you made that choice?” Tikki asks her. “Is that what you want, to have never felt this way?”

“Yes- no- I have no idea!” She exclaims. “I just wish I wasn't so confused about this whole thing! I shouldn't like Chat, we’re partners and I care about him, having a relationship is a terrible idea and I know it would be no good for anyone.”

“It sounds less like you don't like him and more like you're scared to.” Tikki tells her.

Marinette looks down at the toy cat and holds it tighter to her chest. She shakes her head and let's out a sigh.

“Of course I'm scared.” She says. “I don't know how to go about this at all, and I'm scared that if I mess this up I'll lose him forever. How could that not be scary? Everything would be so much better if I only had feelings for Adrien.”

“Marinette it's okay to be scared about these things.” Tikki reassures her. “Thousands of Ladybugs before you have dealt with the same sort of feelings and problems, and in the end they were able to make the right choice even if it was hard. I have complete faith that you'll be able to do the same.”

“How did they know what to do?” Marinette asks her.

“They followed their hearts, and did what they thought was best.” Tikki smiles. “I'm sure you'll do the same.”

Marinette takes her time getting ready, not really too worried about getting to school on time as usual. Her eyes wander to the foundation sitting by her mirror and for a moment she considers picking it up and using it. Quickly looking away she grabs her scarf and decides to wear it instead.

Making her way towards the school she keeps playing with the garment draped over her neck, part of her wishing the mark was gone already and the other part of her hoping it never goes away. She sees Alya at the front gates and goes up to greet her.

“Hey girl, what was with that disappearing act yesterday?” Alya asks her.

“It was nothing big Alya, my parents needed some help so I had to leave.” Marinette tells her.

“Didn't look like that was all it was.” Alya says putting her hands on her hips. “Did something happen between you and Adrien while Nino and I were gone? Did you confess?”

“It was nothing.” Marinette reassures her. “All we did was work on the essay, nothing else happened.”

“But-”

“I really don't feel like talking about it Alya.” Marinette interrupts her. “Let's just get to class, I need to focus on something else for a little bit.”

Alya gives her a small smile and nods her head, leading them both into the large classroom. Once they settle down Nino walks through the door with Adrien as they talk animatedly about something. Adrien glances over to where Marinette is sitting and gives her a smile accompanied by a light blush on his face. Marinette feels the heat rushing to her cheeks and waves at him before looking down and pulling out her work.

“-and that is how Alya and I ended up running away from three angry mimes.” Nino says, finishing up his story as the two boys sit down. “Hey Marinette, how did things go with your parents?”

“Oh, it went fine.” Marinette tells them trying not to look at Adrien. “We ended up finishing the order and I was able to get some studying in before I went to bed.”

“Well that's good.” Nino tells her. “I hope you didn't study too hard though it looks like you didn't sleep too well.”

“She's just a hard worker.” Alya tells them. “I'm sure it was nothing.”

“Yeah, I'm fine don't worry.” Marinette says looking up. Her eyes lock with Adriens for a moment and she automatically looks back down at her hands.

As class goes on through the rest of the day Marinette can see Adrien glancing back at her every once in awhile and and there's a pang of guilt that rings in her heart every time. Normally she’d be ecstatic about finally grabbing his attention that she'd explode but now all she can think about is Chat and how he feels and where he is. She knows that he's part of her life in some aspect, maybe even in her class, and the thought of him seeing her with another boy like that worries her. She misses him, she wants to see him again, but even so she's terrified of what to do when she does see him.

The first time they started hanging out together as Marinette and Chat she never thought things would get this complicated. They would spend their time on the roof together and talk about their impossible crushes, he’d rant about how amazing Ladybug was and she’d gush about Adrien and how amazing he is. She never said his name no matter how much Chat bugged her, and even though they were technically just strangers to each other it was fun talking every night. They became good friends, and their conversations soon branched off into more than just how impossible their love for others was.

And then one night he showed up on her roof after a really hard day at school. She had been planning to confess to Adrien that day but Chloe had gotten in the way again and ended up rubbing it Marinette's face all day. She told him all about it and how humiliated and frustrated she felt and he ended up hugging her. Their faces had come so close together and she didn't know what she was doing, but she had leaned in and kissed him.

And what a kiss it was.

It felt warm and safe sitting there in his arms as she let herself get lost in his affection, and the next night they had fallen into the same trap all over again. He didn't want to know the name of her crush anymore, and she didn't want to hear about Ladybug either. It was wrong to do it, and she wished she knew who it was he was really seeing during those nights. Now that he's gone though she feels an emptiness in her heart, one that used to be filled with comfort and friendship that’s now cold and lonely.

It's not like she can really choose how to feel about the situation, but even so she wishes it wasn't such a mess. She lets her hand reach up to her scarf covering the faint mark and let's out a sigh.

It has to be today.

The bell rings letting everyone out for lunch and she stands up with Alya and heads over to the two boys.

“Hey guys, mind if we sit here again?” Marinette asks them.

“Sure I don't mind, how about you Adrien?” Nino asks turning around to face his best friend.

“I-I’m fine with it.” He says looking up at her.

Marinette smiles at him before glancing back at Alya and sitting down. She listens as Nino goes on about what crazy thing Alya made him do yesterday and tries to figure out a way to get her and Adrien alone. It’s hard not to notice him glancing over at her so often, this is the most attention he’s ever shown her. She tries to keep the heat from rising to her cheeks as they eat their food and joke around with one another.

“I’m gonna go get something from the vending machine real quick, do you guys want something?” Marinette asks them while standing up.

“Nah, I’m good.” Nino says. “What about you Adrien, you want anything?”

“Um, I don’t know.” He says. “I really don’t know what they have in there today.”

“Why don’t you go with Marinette then?” Alya suggests, turning around to wink at Marinette. “Just to see if  you like anything there.”

“Sure.” Adrien says, standing up and walking over to Marinette. “I mean, if you don’t mind me coming along?”

“Of course not.” Marinette smiles. “I’m just grabbing a bag of chips.”

The two walk together in silence as she tries to figure out what to say to him. After all, it’s a little hard to talk to someone who just tried to kiss you the other day while you’re also contemplating your feelings for another guy. She punches in the number for her chips and glances back at him looking over at all the food.

“So, how’s the essay coming along?” She asks him.

“Well, I fixed the thesis statement like you said and was able to write a conclusion.” He tells her. “Whether or not I wrote it well is up for debate.”

“I’m glad.” She smiles. “Sorry for walking out on you guys like that yesterday.”

“It’s alright, your parents needed the help afterall.” He reassures her. “Besides, all you really missed was Nino yelling in frustration because he couldn’t find any quotes to back up his argument.”

“That sounds like fun.” She giggles. “If you want, I can look over your essay again before the due date and help you edit it.”

“That would be great.” He tells her. “If it’s not too much trouble-”

“Nonsense, don’t worry about it.” She interrupts him. “Afterall, we’re friends right?”

There’s a hint of sadness in his eyes as he nods at her words.

“Yeah, we’re friends.” He tells her.

She can feel her heart racing as she looks down at her hands and takes a deep breath.

“Actually there’s something I need to tell you Adrien.” She says looking up at him.

“What is it?” He asks her.

It was now or never, her heart is pounding a mile a minute as she works up the courage to finally tell him how she really feels. She looks up and locks eyes with his, eyes so green they make her mind go back to another blonde hair boy. She opens her mouth to finally confess only to stop right in her tracks.

She can’t do it.

Not because she’s scared or worried, but because these words no longer belong to Adrien. These words are meant for someone else who she has been pushing out of her heart ever since day one, not for someone who she’s just started to know. It feels wrong to say it to him because they’re not for him anymore.

She doesn’t love him anymore.

“I just wanted to say, thank you.” Marinette finally tells him. “I’ve been really worried about what happened between my friend and I, and knowing I have someone who has my back really helped out. So, thank you for listening to me yesterday.”

“It was nothing.” He tells her. “I hope things work out between you two.”

“I hope so too.” She says. “Let’s head back over, Alya and Nino are probably wondering what’s taking us so long.”

He nods his head and they both head back to the table to finish up their lunch. The rest of the day goes by in a blur as she takes her notes and half heartedly pays attention to her teachers. As soon as she gets back home she goes up into her room and sees the cat toy sitting on her bed where she left it and a small smile forms on her face.

“What are you thinking about Marinette?” Tikki asks her.

“I’m just really letting what I’m going to do next sink in.” She says.

Without any warning Marinette walks up to her wall covered in pictures of Adrien from magazines and begins to take them down one by one. She gathers all of them in her hands and puts them in the trash bin by her computer then changes the home screen into it’s default picture. Letting out a sigh she takes off the scarf and goes to look at the mark in her mirror. It’s still a little red but for the most part has faded away. She looks down at the small bottle of foundation still left there from this morning and picks it up.

“Chat said he was closer than I thought the day he left.” She says looking over at her kwami. “In that case, I hope he sees me tomorrow.”

_No more running._

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay it's finally done! I've got two more chapters to write after this so I'm real excited about finishing this up. I love all the comments you guys left on it and I hope you're all patient with me as I try to finish up these next chapters. Hopefully it should be done in a week or so. Hope you liked it!


	6. Day Five

_ Day five. _

Marinette wakes up early the next day with determination in her eyes as she heads over to her bathroom and begins getting ready. She covers the mark up with the foundation on her sink and pulls her hair out of her pigtails from the night before. 

“What are you planning to do Marinette?” Tikki asks coming up behind her.

“Chat told me he was closer than I thought, which probably means we go to the same school.” Marinette tells her. “If he’s really keeping an eye on me then I’m gonna make sure he knows that I’m ready to talk.”

“How are you going to do that?” Tikki asks her.

“I’m gonna find him.” 

After she finishes getting ready and eating breakfast she says goodbye to her parents and heads over to the school. When she gets to the front gate she sees Alya on her phone by the front doors and heads over to where she’s standing.

“Hey Alya!” She calls out to her while waving.

“Hey Marine- woah.” Alya stops, her eyes widening as she looks up at her best friend. “Wow, why are you so dressed up today?”

She looks at Marinette who curled her hair and put a pink butterfly pin in it to keep the curls from falling in her face. She’s wearing a knee length dress with pink lace overlaying the top in a floral design and a pair of wedges. She smiles at her friends reaction and twirls in the dress.

“Do you like it?” She asks Alya. “I’ve been working on this one for a week and since it’s done I thought I’d try it out.”

“Yeah, it looks great Mari.” Alya tells her. “But what about your mark, I don't see it anywhere, is it finally gone?”

“Yup.” Marinette smiles. “I covered it up this morning.”

“You what!?” Alya exclaims. “But what are you going to do if he sees you?!”

“I'll talk to him.”

“And what about Adrien?!”

“I figured things out.”

“And what did you figure out?”Alya asks her, putting her hands on her hips. “Did you confess to him or something?”

“Nope.”

“Then what did you figure out!?”

“Listen Alya,” Marinette stops her. “class is about to start, and for once I'm on time, so let's head out.”

“If you think for one second I'm gonna let this go you're wrong.” Alya tells her before following her best friend into the building and their first class.

As they walk through the doors Alya watches her best friend wander off to talk to their classmates. She can hear her talking to them animatedly and she rolls her eyes before sitting down at their desk. A few minutes later she sees Nino and Adrien enter the room and waves to them.

“Hey guys, how's it going?” She asks them.

“Eh nothing special.” Nino tells her. “My parents think I want an oboe for my birthday again but that's nothing new, what about you?”

“Oh, just Marinette acting all weird today.” She sighs. “I honestly can't read that girl some days.”

“Why is she- woah.” Nino stops looking over at Marinette. “Why'd she get so dressed up today?”

“She says she just finished the dress and wants to try it out but I don't know.” Alya says. “She doesn't want to tell me for some reason.”

“I feel that.” Nino laughs. “Adrien can be that way some days, like Monday when he- Adrien?”

Nino and Alya look over at Adrien who has his eyes locked onto Marinette’s form. His eyes widened and there's a slight blush on his face from the sight of her all dolled up. He blinks a few times before looking back over at his two friends.

“What?” He asks them, pulling himself out of his trance. “I'm sorry guys I wasn't really listening.”

“Yeah, yeah, just like this entire week.” Nino rolls his eyes. “Just ask her out already.”

“What, no, that's not it.” Adrien tries to tell him. “I just got a little distracted for a minute.”

“Uh-huh.” Nino says. “Yeah, that's totally it, I completely believe you.”

“Nino-”

“Hey guys.” Marinette interrupts as she approaches the small group. “How's it going?”

“Oh- uh- hey Marinette.” Adrien stutters. “Nothing much, what about you?”

“Oh I'm just excited for today.” She smiles. “After all, I'm meeting someone later tonight.”

“Wait, like a date?” Nino asks her. “Is that why you came to school all dressed up?”

“Maybe just a little.” She giggles. “I also just felt like trying out this dress. I've been working on it all week so I thought it was time to let it out.”

“Well it looks good girl.” Alya smiles.

“Yeah, it looks great Marinette.” Adrien tells her looking down. “Oh I finished my essay by the way last night.”

“Oh that's good.” Marinette tells him. “I'm sorry I didn't have time to look over it.”

“Don't worry about it.” He reassures her. “I think it came out fine in the end, although, I still think my conclusion is a little weak.”

“I'm sure it's fine.” She smiles at him. “Besides, it's always hard to find a way to finish something like this.”

“Yeah, it kind of is.” He smiles. “Let's just hope our teacher likes it.”

She gives him an encouraging smile and the bell rings signaling all the other students to get to their seats and watch their teacher walk through the door. They turn in their work and go over the story in a class discussion in which everyone participates, giving Marinette a chance to look around the class and search for a familiar pair of green eyes and blonde hair.

_ Where are you Chat? _

The rest of the school day goes by fast as her and her classmates take notes and listen through each lecture. As the last bell rings letting the students out for the weekend Marinette says goodbye to her friends and heads back home. 

Once she gets home she helps her parents around the bakery and works on some of her homework before heading upstairs to her room and getting ready for bed. She washes her hair and puts it back up in pigtails before putting on her pink pajamas and sitting on her bed with the cat plushie in her arms. 

“So what are you going to do when he gets here Marinette?” Tikki asks her. “Should I leave the room so you two can have some privacy?”

“No, don't worry about that Tikki.” Marinette tells her. “I'm going to talk to him, that is, if he heard me today. I basically told everyone in class that I was expecting a friend to come over, hopefully he got the hint.”

“I'm sure he did Marinette.” Tikki reassures her. “I have no doubt things are going to work out.”

“Here's to hoping you're right.” Marinette sighs as she holds the cat toy tighter to her chest.

They sit there for an hour waiting for him to show up, eventually letting exhaustion take hold and closing their eyes. Only a moment later Marinette hears the faint sound of a knock on her trapdoor before her eyes fly open and she looks up. Not letting a moment pass she opens the trapdoor to see a familiar face looking down at her with a smile that she's missed this entire week.

“Hello princess.” He tells her. “We're you expecting me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's the next chapter, finally got it done after a stressful week of school with stressful people. Hope you guys like it this one is pretty short and I was planning on letting you guys read it with the conclusion but it's gonna take a while to finish the final chapter so I thought I would let this one out early. If you guys want to know what the dress looks like it's right in the link below, other than that hold on the next chapter is coming soon! https://stilettosandtequila.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/d653426fa9dfc3139d2d4d35fcba5fea.jpg


	7. Conclusions

“Chat.” She says looking up at his smiling form. “Come in, I- _we_ need to talk.”

“Don’t mind if I do princess.” He says, jumping down from the roof and onto her bed. “Though, I must admit I have missed seeing your lovely fa-”

She interrupts the rest of his sentence by pulling him into a deep embracing and placing her lips onto his. He stands shocked for a few minutes before melting into the kiss and pulling her closer to him. The both of them stay like that for a while, letting the warmth and comfort of each other envelop them before pulling away slightly and looking the other in the eyes.

“I missed you.” She whispers.

“I know.” He tells her, leaning his forehead onto hers. “I missed you too.”

“No, you don’t know.” She says, creasing her eyebrows and looking up at him. “I stayed up all night, wondering why in the world my heart hurt as much as it did without you here. All I had was that stupid bite you left me and I had to cover it up with a scratchy scarf everyday. It hurt, it hurt to not have you here with me.”

“I’m sorry.” He says, reaching up to caress her cheek.

“Did it even affect you?” She asks him. “Did you miss me at all? Or am I the only one here that gave a damn about all of this?”

“Of course I missed you.” He tells her. “I missed every moment we had apart. I missed your smiling face I would see every night, I missed your beautiful laugh at my amazing jokes-”

“Not that amazing.”

“-but what I really missed the most was moments like this.” He told her. “It felt like I was being torn apart every time I forced myself to stay away these past few nights. I wanted to make sure you had the time you needed, even if it hurt to stay away.”

“I never asked you to do that though.” She says looking up at him.

“But you can’t tell me you didn’t need it.” He says. “I know how I feel about you, about us, but some part of me knew that you weren’t always as sure.”

“How do you feel about us?” She asks him.

“What about you?” He asks her. “Did you find your answer?”

“Yes.” She whispers.

“Then what is it?” He breathes, their faces inching closer to each other. “What does my princess think of me?”

“Do I really have to say it?” Marinette asks him. “Some part of me believes you already know the answer.”

“What about your crush?”

“What about him?”

“His name.” He whispers. “What was his name?”

“His name,” She says leaning closer. “His name is Chat Noir.”

He pulls her face closer to his and their lips collide in a passionate kiss. His grip on her waist tightens as he pulls her closer to his body, desperate for her touch while she throws her arms around his neck and melts into his arms. They pull apart from each other for only a second, her breath dancing on his lips while the taste of him still lingered on her mouth. He looks down into her large blue eyes and gives her a sly smile.

“He sounds kind of lame.” He laughs.

“Yeah.” She smiles. “He’s really arrogant, and stubborn, not to mention he makes the worst puns I’ve ever heard.”

“Mew-ouch.” He says, raising his hand up to his chest as if he had just been struck. “Dear princess your words truly insult me.”

“Good, consider it payback for this entire week.” She laughs. “You dumb cat, don’t ever do that to me again.”

“Gladly.” He laughs. He pulls her in again for another kiss, this one more gentle than the ones they’ve been sharing. Their lips come together slowly at first, then slowly the both of them begin to get lost in the other. Her hands raise up to his head and get tangled in his hair as he holds her closer to him. She can feel herself falling backwards and the two of them end up toppling onto the bed. She pulls away from him laughing, still in disbelief at their current situation.

“I love you Chat.” She smiles up at him. “I love you so much.”

His eyes widen and his breath hitches at her words as he looks down at her smiling face. A grin begins to overtake him as he leans down and gives her a small peck on the lips.

“I love you too.” He whispers. “I’m in love with Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

“And I’m in love with the largest stray cat in Paris.” She laughs.

“Don’t you mean the most handsome?”

“Debatable.”

“You really are laying the insults on thick tonight aren’t you?”

She laughs before looking up at him.

“This whole week, I’ve been trying to figure out how I felt about us, and it finally dawned on me yesterday how much you mean to me.” She tells him. “I don’t want to be with anyone else, not even a long sought after crush, if it means losing you. I don’t have these feelings for anyone else, and I hope you don’t either.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He asks her.

“Ladybug.” She says. “What about her, do you still have- are you still in lo-”

“You don’t have to worry about Ladybug.” He tells her. “Not when the girl that I’m currently mad about is right here kissing me like a madwoman.”

“And you’re sure about that?” She asks him diverting her gaze. “I don’t want to be the only one here that had to really think about his.”

“Yes I’m sure.” He says. “I’m in love with Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and she loves me, and at this point I could probably tell the whole world without caring who gave a damn about it.”

She looks up at him and gives him a small smile.

“You know, you’re an interesting cat.” She tells him. “How would you even tell the whole world?”

“I don’t need to, not anymore.” He says. “Because I’ve already told you, and to me that’s my entire galaxy. I’ve been thinking about you and waiting for today ever since I left your balcony that night, and in that amount of time I thought about every outcome and what I would do when tonight finally came but I only came up with one thing I could say. I love you, no matter what your decision was going to be I wanted you to know that I love you and I just want us to be happy, together or not.”

“Then let’s be happy together.” She tells him.

“Couldn’t agree more.” He smiles. “But first I want to tell you something.”

“What is it?” She asks him.

“I don’t want there to be secrets between us.” He says before sitting up and moving to get off the bed. “I want you to know who I really am, I don’t want to hide it from you.”

“Chat, are you sure?” She asks him sitting up.

“Of course I am.” He smiles. “I’m more than sure.”

“Then I need to tell you something too.” She says. “Listen, I haven’t been completely honest with you, and I didn’t think things were going to spiral out of control this much but when it did I didn’t know how to tell you. I was just so afraid of what your reaction would be when I told you, if I wasn’t going to be enough-”

“Don’t say that.” He interrupts her shaking his head. “You are more than enough for me Marinette, I don’t know how I got so lucky to have someone like you in my life to begin with. Whatever it is you haven’t told me, I’m sure it’s not that big of a deal.”

“I just, I’m still afraid to show you.” She says looking down.

He walks back over to the bed and kneels down on one knee before reaching up to touch her cheek. She looks back up at him, her eyes wide and brows creased, before being greeted with the sight of his comforting smile.

“We’ll do it together.” He tells her.

“Together.” She smiles. “I can do that.”

They lean forward letting their lips touch in a sweet kiss and in that moment a bright flash of red and green light engulfs the room. Marinette keeps her eyes closed as she transforms, waiting for her outfit to change before looking at him. The room becomes dark again and she hesitates to open her eyes before she hears his voice ring out.

“Ladybug?”

She opens her eyes to see a familiar face looking at her with wide eyes and his jaw dropped. She looks over his features and feels herself going pale at the realization of who was really standing in her room looking up at her.

“Adrien?” She asks him, her voice barely a whisper. “Is that you?”

“Of course, I mean I-” He stops before taking a deep breath and looking back at her. “I honestly have no idea how to respond in this situation.”

“It’s you.” She whispers still looking at him. “This whole time it’s been you, and right after I- I’m also completely lost.”

He looks back up at her shocked face and gives her a smile.

“I told you my real face was so handsome you’d faint from shock.” He laughs.

“You were more right then you know.” She smiles. “Are you- you aren’t disappointed with who I really am are you?”

“What? Of course not!” He exclaims. “I’m in shock but the more I think about it the more it just makes me feel like an idiot for not seeing it!”

“Oh come one, it wasn’t that obvious.” She says as she rolls her eyes.

“No it’s not that.” He says before lifting her chin up. “I fell in love you for all the same reasons I fell in love with you as Ladybug. You’re brave, witty, and overall one of the most amazing girls I’ve ever met in my life. I think it was inevitable that I would fall in love with you more than once.”

She stares at him with a complete loss for words before giving him a small smile accompanied by the tears she can feel welling up in her eyes.

“You don’t know how much that means to me.” She tells him, leaning into his touch. “That someone was able to see the Ladybug in Marinette without me telling them, you don’t understand how much of a relief it is that you can see it.”

He wipes away the tears that begin to fall down her face and pulls her into a deep embrace. She lets herself fall into his arms and smiles at the amount of comfort he seems to be giving her at the moment, feeling like after a week of absence she is finally home. She rests her head on his shoulder and lets out a relieved sigh before leaning out of his touch and smiling. He looks down at her and leans forward.

“Can I ask you something?”

“What is it?” She asks looking up at him.

“Can you release the transformation?” He asks her. “I’m so tired of our dancing around each other with different masks on this entire time. I don’t want to be Chat Noir kissing Marinette or Adrien kissing Ladybug, I want to hold _you_ in _my_ arms and kiss _you_ without the pretense. I want to kiss Marinette Dupain-Cheng as Adrien Agreste, no masks just us.”

“Alright.” She smiles up at him. “I can do that.”

A flash of red light engulfs the room as the superhero costume disappears leaving the two teenagers alone in her room. He smiles before leaning forward and looking her in the eyes.

“May I kiss you my lady?” He asks her.

“Of course.” She smiles before leaning forward and letting their lips meet.

The two of them lean into the others touch, sighing in relief at the fact that their strange dance was finally over. Marinette can’t help but wonder how she was going to let Alya know that she was dating Adrien, meanwhile Adrien is figuring out what kind of first date he wanted to plan with his new girlfriend. However, all of that doesn’t matter for the moment, as the two of them seem to be lost in their newfound bliss that neither wants to ever let go.

The next day Adrien was proud to kiss his girlfriend at school, knowing that their affections were no longer temporary but instead there to stay.

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaaand it's done! Yay, really glad I got this out here guys. I hope you guys enjoyed it and I'll be posting a oneshot on here soon probably. I'm thinking about writing something else for the fandom but for the most part I'm glad so many of you enjoyed it and I hope you read my stuff in the future. Thanks!


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